Theory of Waiting
by Nikholas F. Toledo Zu
Summary: They are like two parallel lines drawn on a flat surface, non-intersecting, no matter how close they seem to be. But in a big enough scale, even parallel lines are bound to intersect.
1. Chapter 1 - Proxy

Skip Beat! is by Nakamura Yoshiki

* * *

><p><strong>Theory of Waiting<strong>

They are like two parallel lines drawn on a flat surface, non-intersecting, no matter how close they seem to be. But in a big enough scale, even parallel lines are bound to intersect. Hiou stands in the cusp of adulthood, ponders the bigger world ahead and the possibility of finally capturing Kanae's heart.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Proxy<strong>

"You want me to do WHAT?"

Her shocked outburst caused a fair number of people to glance at their general direction. He grunted in annoyance but paid them no heed as he dragged her over to a secluded corner at the end of the hallway.

Kotonami Kanae, one of LME's rising stars and former LoveMe member number two, brushed a couple of wayward strands from her face before glaring at the slightly panicked young man, "Do you mind running that by me again, Hiou?"

"Tone it down, will you!" Uesugi Hiou growled back in a harsh whisper as he glanced around, making sure that nobody was eavesdropping on their conversation. "You heard me fine the first time. I'm not repeating what I just said, dammit!"

"But seriously, haven't you ever-?"

"No," was his clipped reply despite the heat that was rapidly crawling up his neck and undoubtedly staining his cheekbones.

She opened her bottle of oolong tea and took a drink before commenting, "You know, I've always thought that you would've done it at least once. I mean, with you being in all these dramas and-"

"I've always been casted for much younger roles because of how I looked," he explained, cutting off her rambling before it led to more embarrassing tangents. "So, no - I haven't done it onscreen."

"Well, not yet - you mean." She tilted her head to one side and narrowed her gaze at him, "How about with your girlfriend?"

He shrugged, "Never had one."

Kanae snorted and just had to roll her eyes on that one as she capped the bottle close. "Oh, c'mon, Hiou-kun. My younger brother, who's the same age as you is already on his third," the proverbial knife in his chest twisted as it dug a little deeper, "His younger cousin of two years is in a relationship as well."

Hiou straightened to his full height - all 177 centimeters of his seventeen years, finally towering over her, and glared back. "It just so happens that I'm NOT one of your playboy relatives, Kotonami-san."

The only time that Hiou would refer to her by her last name is when he was really starting to get pissed-off. He had always called her by her name ever since that time when he and Kyouko discovered the reason behind her violent 'play-acting'.

She met his glare and tried to ignore the slight strain on her neck. It was utterly ridiculous. Five years ago, she had to be on her knees for them to see eye-to-eye. Literally. Now, she had to look up and suffer the occasional crick in the neck just to meet his gaze.

"Mou! When did you get to be so freakishly tall?"

"Hey! I resent that!" He knew she was changing the topic, but he just couldn't let this one pass. "It wasn't easy adjusting to a year and a half of growth spurt, you know."

That was an understatement. The year he turned fifteen was nothing short of hell. His limbs were suddenly longer, his hands and feet were larger. He had never felt so awkward in his own body. Even with his new voracious appetite, he was still gangly due to his metabolism which was stuck in overdrive. He even started buying clothes two sizes larger and easily grew into them within a span of months. It was only during the second half of his sixteenth year when everything slowed down to more manageable levels. And even then, he has yet to start tackling the implication of his physical growth regarding his feelings for-

"Oi, Hiou-" A sharp elbow jab brought him out of his reverie, "Mou-! Were you even listening to me?" He blinked down in surprise at the beautiful woman who was frowning at him and shook his head guiltily.

"I asked if it was for a scene," Kanae reiterated for his benefit.

"Y-yeah. The new drama that I'm starring in would require me to do it." He winced, ducking his head to hide his reddening cheeks as he mumbled under his breath, "A lot."

"Fine, I'll read through some of the scenes with you and go over some pointers. You can drop by the flat around 8pm this Thursday. That'll give me enough time to cook us a light dinner. But don't expect anything too fancy," she warned bitingly, "This won't be anything like Kyouko's cooking."

"Or I could just bring something over," he suggested, sealing the deal with an offer she could hardly refuse, "What would you like to eat?"

"Really?" Kanae perked up, a lively grin suddenly breaking across her usually haughty features. Any reason not to slave away in the kitchen was always a welcome reprieve. "Then I'd like to have some chow mein from that Chinese restaurant right next to the train station."

"By the way, won't your roommate mind me hanging around your place that late?"

"Not if you bring us free food," she readily replied, waving his concerns away, "But don't worry, I'll give her a heads-up anyway."

"Ok, got it. Chow mein on Thursday 8pm." Hiou nodded resolutely before letting out a snicker, "Anyone ever told you that you're a cheap date, Kanae?"

"Mou! Shut-up, brat!" Kanae managed a mock glower as she reached out to slap his arm, "This is what I get for agreeing to help you?"

"Aiya~ Gomen, gomen," Hiou laughed as he fielded her hands with a thin booklet he pulled out from his messenger bag, "Here's the script. I've already marked the scenes that we need to work on."

"You still have this bad habit of rolling them up," she complained, handing him the bottle of oolong tea she was drinking before taking the script.

Hiou watched her un-roll the booklet as he drank the rest of her tea. "Figured you'd want to read through the scene... hey, wait! You don't need to read it NOW!"

_'Poor Hiou, he obviously found the whole kissing ordeal embarrassing'_.

Kanae was strangely happy that he decided to come to her for help and not anyone else. "Fine, fine. I'll read it on my way home."

"Good enough." He threw the empty bottle in a nearby recycling bin and broke into his usual smirk, "Okay, I gotta run. I have a shoot in an hour. See you on Thursday, Kanae."

"Bye, Hiou."

* * *

><p>~o|0|o|0|o|0|o~<p>

"She turned down the role? I was pretty sure she would've been ecstatic to work with you."

"I was under the same impression as well," Shingai Seiji replied with a resigned smile, absently tapping his fingers against the darkwoord tabletop, "But given her current condition, circumstances proved to be otherwise."

"Considering the theme of this drama, the best decision would be to get a new lead actress," his fellow director, Kurosaki Ushio, mused aloud with a sigh. "Two months before filming starts - I guess you have more than enough time to choose a new actress, make an offer and have her sign the contract."

He watched his friend take a satisfying drag off his cigarette before asking the next relevant question, "So, who was your second choice?"

"We don't have one. It was a unanimous decision between the writer, myself and the producer to have her play the lead role."

"Well... that was collectively stupid," Ushio bluntly stated, a slight frown knotting his brow as he sipped his coffee.

"I know," Seiji admitted, surprise overshadowing his acute embarassment at hearing his friend point out their blunder. "Got any suggestions?"

Ushio reached for a paper napkin, pulled out a pen and started scribbling. Once done, he handed the napkin to Seiji.

He stared at the three names on the list and smiled, "I'll have my secretary call their agencies right away." He then reached out and flicked the stupid looking 'lampshade' hat off his friend's head, "Thanks, Kuro-ushi! I owe you one."

Ushio scrambled to make a quick grab for the hat and growled at the sight of his so-called friend's back disappearing among the Saturday afternoon crowd, "I'm hate that nickname."

* * *

><p>~o|0|o|0|o|0|o~<p>

Koenji Erika could feel her manager's eyes on her as she leafed through the script. The theme itself reeked of cliche - older woman falling for a younger man - like one of those cheap soft-core pornish shoujo manga. She would have thrown the entire script down after reading the summary if her manager had not convinced her to read through the second act. She did, and found it hard to stop there. She breezed through the third and fourth act and practically devoured every word on paper as she read all the way to the tenth act.

Erika was hooked.

The scripted dialogue was nothing short of brilliant. The stereo-typed characters were given life and freedom to grow beyond their boundaries. It was if the entire thing had been written for the sole purpose of breaking the very cliché the story was based on.

"Koenji-san, you can take the script home to read and just tell me your decision tomorrow regarding the audition."

It was exactly what she needed to rise above the banal roles she had been type-casted lately. In short, this role was her big ticket to recognition and stardom since she made her break in acting two years ago.

"I'll give you my answer now," Erika looked up, determination shimmering in her eyes, "Competition be damned, I intend to play the lead role for this drama."

* * *

><p>~o|0|o|0|o|0|o~<p>

"MOKO-SAAAAN! CHIORI-CHAAAAN! I missed you two so very much!"

It was the only warning they got before the bright-haired girl barreled into them and latched on like an over-zealous monkey.

"Mou! Could you show a bit more restraint?" Kanae groused, though she had no problem returning Kyouko's hug despite her chastising tone, "We just saw each other last week."

"Where's Tsuruga-san?" Chiori prompted, wondering where the famous actor could be since it was fairly rare to see Kyouko without her husband shadowing her.

"He was running late for his appointment with the President, so he finally agreed to just drop me off here after the check-up," Kyouko explained as she placed herself between her two friends and tucked an arm along each of theirs. "C'mon, let's grab something to eat. I'm sooo hungry!"

Chiori expected Kanae to brighten up at the news and was surprised to see the shuttered expression on her face instead.

"So, it's confirmed? How far along are you?" Kanae asked. The question caught Chiori's attention and had her glancing at the bright-haired girl between them.

Kyouko, however, was positively glowing like a small sun. "The doctor said that I'm well into the start of my second trimester."

All three women stopped walking. Each with a different expression on their face.

Kanae glance down at their friend's flat stomach and raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yes. Really."

Chiori finally managed to close her mouth with a snap, only to open it again to let out a squeal of delight, "Congratulations, Kyouko-chan!" she chortled, clapping her hands in excitement. "Tsuruga-san sure works fast. It hasn't even been two months after the wedding and you're already..." she trailed off as the figures in her head did not quite add up the way she expected them. It took her a moment to confirm the math before she asked, "Is that what the Americans would call a 'shotgun wedding'?"

"Eh?" Kyouko frowned, not familiar with the foreign idiom.

"That's not quite right, Chiori. The definition is actually a situation where a man is threatened at gunpoint into marrying the girl he got pregnant," Kanae explained, her voice dropping a few octaves and a few degrees lower as she remembered her best friend's wedding day. "If I recalled correctly, the groom looked disgustingly happy and even downright smug for it to be anything like a 'shotgun wedding'."

Kyouko suddenly blushed a beet red, Chiori laughed at the tell-tale sign and Kanae reached out to pinch her friend's blushing cheek, "If anyone got tricked into that marriage, it would be this naïve pregnant idiot here!"

"Moko-saaaa~n!" Kyouko whined, rubbing at her stinging cheek. "What do you have against my husband, anyway?"

Suddenly, Kyouko's entire body seized up as if she was caught up in an epileptic fit. Any other person would have either backed away in fright or called the ambulance. Chiori and Kanae shared a smirk as former LoveMe Number One oscillated in tandem to the dull buzzing sound coming from her small handbag.

Kanae did not miss the way Kyoko's brows furrowed when she pulled out her phone and noticed the caller's name on the display panel.

"Sorry, but I have to take this call," Kyouko said, excusing herself with a slight bow, "I'll meet up with you girls at that Italian restaurant across the street. We have a table reserved under my name. See you there."

Sure enough, after giving Kyouko's name, they we immediately ushered into a quiet little booth with a view of Odaiba. They placed their orders, with Kanae choosing a shrimp pasta for Kyouko, and sent the waiter off.

"By the way, Hiou's dropping by Thursday night for a reading session," Kanae said, taking a sip of water from her glass, "He's bringing some chow mein for dinner. Hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind as long as he brings us free Chinese food," Chiori started to grin, only to falter when she remembered something and finally voiced out her concern, "But your boyfriend might."

"And why should he? Last I checked, it's OUR flat, not his." Kanae let out an exasperated breath and quickly changed the subject, "So, I just heard from Sawara-san that you got an offer for a lead role in a new series."

Chiori could tell that Kanae wanted the matter dropped and decided to pacify her by answering the question about work, "It's an audition, not an outright offer. But I don't think I can do it."

"And why not?" she asked, a belligerent frown on her brow.

"Because I've broken my head over that script for almost three days now! I'm no closer to figuring out why the female lead acts the way she does when the she's supposedly a very sensible and level-headed person." Chiori brought out the script and handed it over to Kanae, "Here, let's see you make something out of it."

"Maybe she's schizophrenic," Kanae offered jokingly as she started skimming through the script that had been marked out.

_-~-=.0.=-~-_

_ACT III Scene V_

_Sumire and Takeshi coincidentally meet up in front of a vending machine, each of them ends up buying a canned drink._

_Takeshi: (Smirks)Having fun?_

_Sumire: Like you can talk._

_Takeshi: What are you going to do about tomorrow?_

_Sumire: Huh?_

_Takeshi: If your boyfriend's going to be dropping by, I could just go and crash at a friend's place for about 2 to 3 days._

_Sumire: What are you saying? You don't have anywhere to go, do you?_

_Takeshi: (Drinks before answering)Yeah, I do._

_Takeshi: I have a bit of money._

_Takeshi: And since I'm such a good-looking guy, I'm bound to find someone who'd feed me._

_Takeshi: Just because I don't have you to look after me doesn't that I'm going to end up dead in some ditch somewhere._

_Sumire: Ah...well. I see. If that's the case, then I won't expect you to come by for a few days._

_Takeshi: Got it. You can mess around all you want._

_Sumire: Hey! Was that meant to be sarca-_

_Takeshi grabs Sumire by the arm and pulls her in for a kiss. She struggles, but he simply pins her against the vending machine and deepens the kiss even more. Sumire finally manages to break free and slaps Takeshi hard, making him drop his drink. Sumire is in shock, breathing heavily as she valiantly tries to regain her composure._

_Takeshi: (Picks up his can while avoiding Sumire's gaze) Well, bye-bye then._

_Sumire: (Angrily) Don't bother coming back home! Ever! Stupid asshole!_

_-~-=.0.=-~-_

Kanae's brow knotted even deeper as she started to speed read through the entire act, her fingers clenching into the paper.

"I just can't 'see' myself becoming her." Chiori continued on, oblivious to Kanae's heated face as the long-haired woman flicks through the script and starts reading again from a random page.

_-~-=.0.=-~-_

_ACT V Scene VI_

_Sumire: Is there something on your mind? Is there something I can do?_

_Takeshi: Yeah..._

_Sumire: (Excitedly) Go on, you can tell me anything you want._

_Takeshi: But it's useless telling Sumire-chan..._

_Sumire: (Looks dejected as she backs away) Ah... I... I get it now. Well, goodnight, then._

_Sumire proceeds to the bathroom for her bath and starts to take off her clothes. The bathroom door opens, Takeshi steps in and walks up to Sumire whose top is only covered by her bra._

_Sumire: (Covers herself) Wha-!_

_Takeshi grabs her arms and tries to pry them apart._

_Sumire: What the hell's gotten into you?_

_Takeshi suddenly forces Sumire's arms apart, exposing her chest and leans in close to whisper against her cheek._

_Takeshi: (Speaks in a flat voice) Anything I want, right? What if I said I wanted you?_

_-~-=.0.=-~-_

"You, however, would have been perfect for this role," Chiori declared, not even bothering to hide the envious tone in her voice.

Kanae refused to rise to the bait and simply shot the other girl a dirty look, "Don't even start. Besides, you're the one to whom they gave the script, not me."

"Rumor has it that they already had someone in mind to play the female lead," Chiori continued her 'matter-of-fact' tone that lent credence to the gossip, "But I heard that she had to turn down the offer because of her pregnancy."

The silence stretched unnaturally long after her statement, as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for them to realize something.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kanae asked tentatively.

"You bet I am!" Chiori groaned in dismay, "Now I have to go through with the audition. I wouldn't be able to respect myself, otherwise!"

"Heh! I knew you were going to say that."

"Hi, I'm back!" Kyouko announced breathlessly as she settled down with her friends, "Hope, I didn't miss much."

The waiter then arrived with their orders, momentarily curtailing any chance of further discussion on the topic. The conversation that followed mostly revolved around Kyouko's pregnancy: Chiori asking the questions, Kyouko apprehensively answering them to the best of her ability, and Kanae throwing in a precious tidbit or two based on personal experience with her huge family. It was not until they were having desserts when they finally managed to touch on the topic again when they were discussing Kyouko's current workload.

"I already had to turn down a couple of projects just last week," Kyouko admitted guiltily while poking at her sherbet, "Remember the call I received earlier? I had to tell Shingai-sensei that I could not go through with the drama after all. Based on the doctor's feedback, I'm bound to start showing before we could start filming the second half of the series."

"Any clue on who they short-listed for the new female lead?" Chiori nervously asked, "I heard they have the role open for audition."

"Actually, it was Kurosaki-sensei who came up with the list for him," Kyouko smiled as she said this, casting a glance at her former Kyurara co-star.

Kanae was quick to react, "Mou! What's that yakuza director got to do with it?"

"He apparently just became a co-producer for the drama." Kyouko revealed with a flourish, "And he has two LME talents in his list."

"What- wait! Two from LME?" Chiori leaned across the table, her brows drawn together in curiosity, "If it's not you, then who's the other one?"

* * *

><p>AN01:

Ok. Finally got back into my writing groove!

And yes, this is my second official SB series - I just adore this scandalous Kanae and Hiou pair-up. Reviews not needed, but would be much appreciated. (^.^)v Critique and feedback = happiness. Not that they would help to get me churning out the next chapter any faster though. (-_- ;;) Anyone who's been reading my previous SB work would know that I write slooow as molasses and usually update at my own pace.

A/N02:

The script snippets were from Kimi wa Petto by Ogawa Yayoi (Tramps Like Us - I've no idea how they came up with this for the English title). I wrote the snippets from memory and was searching like crazy for the title of the manga. Good thing one reviewer (miss-x-larie) posted the title.

Hope you guys enjoyed the revised first installment.


	2. Chapter 2 - Kiss

Skip Beat! is by Nakamura Yoshiki

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Kiss<strong>

"Where are you?" Kanae asked without preamble over the phone.

"Outside your door."

"Seriously?!" she asked even as she stretched up on tip toes to peek out of the peephole.

"Seriously." Hiou smugly answered, raising his hand to show the bag of Chinese take-out he brought for dinner.

Kanae closed her phone with a practiced flick of her wrist and stuffed it in the front pocket of her cut-offs. She unbolted the lock and opened the door to welcome him into the apartment, "I didn't expect you to be this early. There's usually a long line at that shop around dinner time."

"I know; and they don't do delivery either," he grumbled, handing the plastic bags to Kanae before toeing off his shoes and slipping on a pair of guest slippers. "That's why I called to order in advance and told them I'll be picking it up instead."

"Smart," Kanae quipped with a grin as she opened the cardboard containers and started laying the them out on the low table.

"Nah, just common sense." Hiou remarked as he made his way to the table. He rummaged inside one of the bags and brought out the chopsticks. He deftly snapped a pair apart and snatched a shrimp dumpling from one of the boxes.

He noticed that she had prepared three places and was happily humming under her breath as she dutifully heaped a sizable portion of chow-mein on his plate. Hiou hid a smile under the paper napkin he used to wipe his mouth. Kanae may grumble and rant about her huge family back home, but her motherly instincts have a tendency to show sometimes.

"By the way, Chiori called to say that she'd be late and that we should go on ahead and eat."

Hiou shrugged as he sat on one of the floor pillows and decimated two more of the delicately wrapped dumplings before Kanae closed the box, "Oi-! I was eating that!" he protested in mock outrage, "How dare you deny a growing boy his sustenance!"

Kanae dead-panned, "She also told me to make sure the that you don't finish off all the shrimp."

"Bah! Tell her she needs to go on a diet," was his quick retort.

She broke into a fit of giggles and pushed a box of pork dumplings towards him, "Here, have some shumai instead."

Momentarily mollified, Hiou picked up two and placed them beside his stir-fried noodles. He leaned back against the base of the two-seater couch and started on his meal.

Kanae sat down next to him, close enough for her left shoulder to brush against his right arm. His senses immediately kicked into overdrive, making him hyper aware of the woman beside him. Gods, she smelled nice... like 'really' nice. It was nothing like those heavy perfumes most women were prone to wear; hers was more like a light floral, fresh-from-the-shower smell. Dark tendrils of midnight hair escaped her messy bun and teased the line of her long elegant neck. Her blue cotton shirt had a wide neckline and a distracting tendency to fall off one shoulder, revealing the purple bra strap underneath. He averted his eyes away from the delectable view, mentally berating himself for his momentary lapse of control.

'Calm down. The moment you make a grab for her, you can kiss your 5-year friendship good-bye.' Hiou thought dejectedly, looking down at his food. His gaze fell on her cut-offs instead, which barely went down to mid-thigh. His R-rated thoughts reached the gutter in a span of a heartbeat. 'No! I did NOT just think of kissing her knees all the way up to the edge of her shorts! Argh!'

Desperate to salvage his self-esteem, Hiou scooted back to what he deemed to be a safe distance and grabbed a pitcher of barley tea.

"Want some?" He asked raspily as he started pouring himself a glass.

"Sure," Kanae smiled, oblivious to the dirty thoughts awhirl in his head.

She thanked him when he handed her a drink. Hiou decided to stay put at the opposite end of the coffee table. He picked up his chopsticks and resumed his meal, shoveling chow-mein down his mouth while purposely ignoring the odd looks she was giving him.

Despite his unruly thoughts, conversation with Kanae was still comfortable and engaging. It made him happy to know that she kept tabs on his current dramas and was always ready to give her honest opinion on his work. In return, he asked about the roles she was being offered and would point out those worth auditioning for. But when Kanae mentioned that she might consider taking up an offer to star as the lead female in a historical drama, alarm bells started ringing in his head. Hiou barely managed to stop himself from vetoing the idea outright.

"But haven't you already done a couple of those?" he asked instead.

"Yes, and I seem to be pretty good at it too." She smiled proudly, pouring them each a glass of barley tea this time around, "I think I might have found my niche."

"You're seriously letting yourself get shoehorned without even a token protest?" Hiou commented, knowing he sounded like an overbearing prick and Kanae was sure to bite his head off for it. But it was a disaster in the making and he had to point it out to her. "From where I'm standing, it seems more like you're getting too complacent with these roles."

"Excuse me?!" She nearly slammed the pitcher down on the table and glared at him, her voice pitched low and reaching sub-zero temperatures, "What exactly do you mean by 'complacent', Hiou?"

"What I meant to say is that you're getting lazy with your choice of acting jobs, Kanae." Treading on eggshells with her was not something he had patience for. Hiou decided that direct was best after all. "Professionally speaking, I think you should just turn down that offer for the sake of your career."

"And if I did - what should I be doing instead?"

"Something challenging, something you've never done before..." He took her copy of the script from where she left it on the couch and placed in front of her, "Something like this."

"Were you aware that Chiori is auditioning for the same lead role that Kyouko had to drop because of her pregnancy?" Kanae asked, only to wince at her unintentional slip, "Mou! Did you know that Kyouko's pregnant? If not - you better forget that you heard it from me!"

"I only got informed that they were looking for a replacement for the lead female role last week. I didn't even know that the original pick was Kyouko. Kurosaki-kantoku asked if I could do a read through with you and just see if you're even remotely interested."

"Well, you can tell that yakuza wannabe that I'm not interested at all."

"We both know that's a lie. If you were competing with Kyouko for this role, you wouldn't even think twice about auditioning for it. So, what gives?"

"Chiori and I - we're too alike." She sighed, a slight frown creasing her brow, "It would be like competing with myself."

"And Kyouko just happened to be your polar opposite?"

"Not quite. Kyouko is- she's..." Kanae trailed off, gesturing with her hands as if to summon the right words to describe her best friend, "Kyouko is different. It's exciting to work with her, but it's even more exhilarating to be competing with her," she explained, a slight smile lifting the corner of her lips. But her smile quickly turned sour upon remembering her friend's current 'predicament'. "Then that damn Tsuruga just had to fall for her, sweep her off her feet and decided to selfishly keep her to himself."

"So, I take it that you're not the kind who would tell her 'Your happiness is my happiness, Kyouko-chan!'" Hiou said, quoting the last line a high-pitched falsetto with his hands clutched together in front of his chest for the full-effect.

"No, I'm not," Kanae chuckled even as she admitted grudgingly. "Mou! I'm starting to think that Tsuruga deliberately knocked her up to make sure she never ends up with the lead role for Shingai's new drama."

Her bald statement caused him to snort a mouthful of tea up his nose. Red-faced with embarrassment, he grabbed a handful of napkins from the tissue box to wipe his face. "KA-NA-E!" he growled while dabbing at his shirt in mortified anger, "I didn't need to hear that!"

She continued to apologize profusely, but the ineffectual way she tried to cover her amusement told him exactly how sorry she was.

"Show's over," He stated after cleaning himself as best he could. "You can now stop laughing like a damned hyena."

"I'm really sorry for that, Hiou." Kanae finally managed with some gravity, "But seriously, how do you intend to play this part without blushing your ears off?"

"You're supposed to help me with THAT part, remember?"

"Oh, right, how could I forget." She gathered up their dirty plates and glasses and loaded them on the tray. "Turn on the TV and the DVD player, we'll start when I get back."

* * *

><p>~o|0|o|0|o|0|o~<p>

Amamiya Chiori was having a bad day.

The set of ero-kawa undies she bought with Kyouko over some stupid dare last Christmas was missing its top half. She was not a superstitious person, but with a running streak of five successful auditions for roles in top rated dramas it was hard not to take her 'lucky' underwear seriously. Which was why she ended up spending a better part of her morning tearing through her closet, frantically searching for it. Unfortunately, it took her almost two hours before she finally found the missing piece in a remote corner of her drawer.

Strapped for time, she offered the taxi driver an extra 1000 yen if he could get her to TBS before 11am. The driver dutifully floored the gas pedal and shifted in and out of Tokyo traffic like a pro-racer. He also had a tendency to oversteer around street corners (instead of turning like any normal driver) while holding an engaging conversation with her about tofu. It did not take long before Fujiwara-san's flashy driving caught the attention of Tokyo's traffic patrol. The next ten minutes was a blur of squealing tires, smell of burnt rubber and enough G-force that had her plastered to the door every time they took a left turn.

Despite the most action-packed taxi ride of her life, Chiori was still fifteen minutes late when she stepped over the threshold of the studio where the auditions were being held. It was sheer dumb luck that actress number '3' had to back out on such short notice due to an emergency, while actress number '2' was currently onstage. Hence, she was allowed to participate just to fill in the suddenly vacant slot.

It was a confrontation scene between the lead character and the woman going after her boyfriend. The first time she read the dialogue for the scene, she wanted to clap her hands. Not for the lead character, but for the 'other' woman who smugly declared that she was going to steal and marry 'Mr. Right'.

But Chiori was supposed to be 'Sumire' for this scene. So she did her best to channel in her righteous anger and a dash of disbelief at being told upfront by a thieving cat that she was after her beloved 'Hasumi-senpai'. Everyone was silent after the reading and was looking expectantly at the panel for any reactions. Kurosaki leaned towards Shingai and whispered something to his co-director. Shingai merely nodded his head and lightly cleared his throat before speaking over the mic.

"Amamiya-san?"

"Hai?"

"Kindly act out this scene again. But this time, I want you to be Shiori."

"H-hai."

__-~-=.0.=-~-__

_Sumire: ...Is there anything you want?_

_Shiori: You're so cool and collected. But we both know you hate me for that time. _

_Sumire: There's nothing I can do about the fact that you like him._

_Shiori: It's not that I like him. I want him._

_Sumire: Wha-?!_

_Shiori: I'm not asking you to break up with him right away, so don't worry. He seems the type who's hard to get, so I've decided to spend more time on it. My ultimate goal is marriage, after all._

_Sumire: Marriage?! So, you're saying you want Hasumi-senpai even though you don't like him? _

Fukushima Shiori was a woman who knew her weaknesses; but more importantly, she knew how to capitalize on them. She was clingy, needy, and had always been jealous of Sumire. Lying and even a little blackmail were not beneath her, not when it meant getting the ultimate meal ticket in the end.

_Shiori: Oh, and if you tell Hasumi-san about this, I'll tell him about your cute "Momo" _

_Sumire: ..._

_Shiori: (Laughs) You look totally shocked_

_Sumire: Aren't you ashamed of what you're doing?_

_Shiori: Not at all. _

_Shiori: Mother left when I was nine. I had to take care of my loser of a father and younger brothers. I never got what I wanted. _

__Shiori: _When I finished high school and came to Tokyo, I had nothing back then. Including this so-called 'pride' you elites have. _

___Shiori: __That's why if there's anything I want, I'll go though any means to get it._

___-~-=.0.=-~-___

"Aaaaand CUT!"

Chiori blinked as she slowly came back to herself. She knew with absolute certainty that her second performance was leagues better than her first. Being Shiori was surprisingly easy compared to playing Sumire.

In the end, she was offered a role. It was not the role for which she was auditioning, but it was certainly a key role. Fukushima Shiori was basically considered as the female antagonist in the drama after all. The old Amamiya Chiori from five years ago would have flatly turned down the offer. But after being friends with such talented people dedicated to their art, she now knew that every role should be considered a challenge, be it a chicken mascot or a psychopatic ojou-sama. Playing the part of a manipulative thieving she-cat should not be any different. She called up her manager and they signed the contract that same afternoon.

Amamiya Chiori's day had definitely taken a turn for the better.

* * *

><p>~o|0|o|0|o|0|o~<p>

"Top 10 Atsui Chu!"

Hiou read the title for the segment as it flashed across the TV screen. The look on his face was a mixture of horror, disbelief, and hilarity. "This was your last Love Me assignment for Takarada-Kaichō?"

"Don't you dare laugh!" Kanae warned, whapping Hiou across the chest with a throw pillow even as the first scene started to play out. "Chiori and I had to watch a decade's worth of renai dramas to compile this."

"It's rather scary how you girls can devise new ways to inflict mental torture," he half-joked as he tucked the pillow under his chin and settled back comfortably on the couch.

"Mou! Just shut up and watch."

Thirty minutes later into the countdown, Hiou realized that the best 10 scenes they picked from the lot were actually arranged from bad to worst. It started with 'kinda cheezy' and devolved to 'awkwardly lame' with each progression. He had just about seen all the different ways how a kiss could ruin an episode of a perfectly decent drama. With the top three scenes left to go, he could not imagine how it could possibly get any worse.

"Ne, Kanae. Don't you usually count down to the best? Why is your list in reverse order?"

"That way, anything we missed couldn't possibly be any worse than what we've already watched." Kanae said as she pressed the pause button with a vengeance. "If there was an award category of wost on-screen kiss, Japanese dramas would win hands down."

"That's not true!" Hiou heatedly protested. "And how come I don't see any clips here that has Tsuruga-san and Kyouko?"

"In deference to Kyouko, Chiori and I both agreed that we won't include her kissing scenes in the list." Kanae replied smoothly, scrunching her nose in distaste over the thought, "Besides, who would want to see those two suck faces anyway?"

"I would." The look Kanae sent him could strip paint off a door that he had to come up with a quick follow-through, "From a strictly professional and educational standpoint, of course."

"Of course," Kanae skeptically concurred.

Hiou stretched, his hand landing along the back of the couch and accidentally brushing against her hair. "Well, at least we don't have those horrible 'surprised-statue-kiss' plaguing most K-dramas nowadays."

"Statue-kiss?" she repeated in puzzlement, wondering if Hiou was consciously aware that he was playing with her hair.

"You know what I mean- the girl would have this wide-eyed surprised look as the guy 'supposedly' kisses her. They would stay in that pose, like statues, for 5 seconds! Then she closes her eyes as they cue in the theme music and they pass the whole thing off as 'kissing'."

Kanae almost applauded over his detailed description but decided to roll her eyes instead. "Oh please, as if those awkward closed-mouth mashing of lips that happens in OUR dramas were any better," she said, waving the remote control at the TV screen to prove her point. "But I still think their kissing scenes are only a smudge better than ours. A smudge mind you, since they generally have better looking guys in their cast."

Hiou snorted haughtily as he stopped playing with her hair and crossed his arms over his chest, "I still think we have the better actors."

"Now, you're just resorting to sweeping generalizations."

"Aren't you guilty of the same thing with that 'wost on-screen kiss' statement?" He countered with that pugnacious tilt to his chin that Kanae found strangely adorable.

"You know what? For the sake of curtailing this stupid argument, let's just skip this and move on to some Taiwanese drama." she said, pressing the fast-forward button until she reached the clip she wanted.

"So, you're basically saying those drama have better kissing scenes?"

"I'll let you decide," Kanae neutrally answered as she pressed 'play'.

Hiou decided to humor her and got ready to nitpick and critique the scene. What he did not expect was to be pulled in by the chemistry between the lead characters. There was little to no dialogue, but the plethora of emotions were clearly conveyed by their lingering touches and heated gaze. It added to the build-up of the sexual tension that was sorely lacking in the earlier scenes.

He may not have been a participant, but being a child actor who starred in prime-time dramas, he was used to seeing how a kissing scene was shot. The one he was watching now seemed so natural and spontaneous. It had none of that stilted, self-conscious awkwardness born from knowing that they were being filmed and would be watched by thousands. Instead, they kissed as if the world beyond the two of them did not exist. But what really pissed him off was the kiss managed to evoke a physical response from him although he knew for a fact that it was all an act.

"So, what do you think?" she asked.

"C'mon, a kiss like that is not going to get shown in Japanese prime-time television," was his non-committal response.

"Think again. Shingai-kantoku is the one directing and, given the nature of the story, he's not going to be pulling any punches."

The picture suddenly stopped moving, the actors frozen in their torrid lip-lock. Hiou focused on the blinking pause icon at the right hand corner of the screen as he contemplated on what she just said. He was startled out of his stupor by the script booklet landing on his lap.

"You'll be Sumire," Kanae said as she sat on the clear end of the wooden coffee table facing him, "And I'll be Takeshi."

Hiou frowned, "Why do I have to be the woman?"

She clicked her tongue and nudged his knee, "Mou! Quit whining like one and just turn to page 214... ACT III Scene V"

He noticed that she wasn't holding any script, then he figured she's got the dialogue memorized already. Damn woman with her eidetic memory.

Hiou finally found the page and the scene they were about to enact. The script cover folded under his fingers, he felt like his stomach dropped from underneath him and his throat was suddenly dry.

_She could not possibly mean to..._

"Think we could do better, Hiou?"

* * *

><p>~o|0|o|0|o|0|o~<p>

Chiori found herself humming a tune under her breath as she watched the numbers on the panel count up to her floor. The elevator doors finally dinged open and she could hardly keep herself from skipping down the hall in her excitement to share the good news with Kanae. She took out her keys and was just about to unlock the door when her phone rang. She fished her phone from her coat pocket and accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi Chiori. It's Hidehito. Sorry to be a bother, but I just wanted to ask if Kanae is with you."

"Ah-! Good evening, Kijima-san. I just arrived at the apartment myself." She jangled her keys meaningfully before continuing, "Kanae doesn't have anything scheduled for tonight, so I guess she should be at home unless something urgent came up at work today."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. But I had been calling for almost an hour now and I always end up with a busy signal."

Chiori belatedly remembered that Hiou was dropping by, promising them Chinese takeout in exchange for a reading session. Kanae did have a tendency to be a bit oblivious to everything else when the brat was around.

"Ugh, she probably left her phone in her bag again and forgot to charge it," she said as she fiddled with the lock; the half-lie leaving a sour taste as it smoothly rolled off her tongue. "You know how she is, sometimes."

"Yeah, sometimes I wonder about that, too."

She paused at the slight edge of bitterness in Kijima's tone. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, forcing as much gaiety as she could in her voice, "Don't you worry, Hide-kun. I'll be sure to scold her on your behalf and tell her to give you a call-back."

Kijima laughed, "Glad to know that you're on my side. Thanks, Chiori-chan. Goodnight."

"G'night."

Chiori ended the call and leaned her head against the door, suddenly feeling very tired. She loved Kanae like a sister, but there were moments like this that she itched to strangle her for being so damn inconsiderate. Turning the knob, she marched through the door with every intention of scolding her roommate as promised, only to be stopped by the scene that greeted her.

Kanae was leaning over Hiou, both her hands pinning his wrists up against the couch, as she lowered her head to capture his lips. Chiori was completely shell shocked for the first five seconds before she finally panicked and screamed the first thing that came to her mind.

"No make-out sessions on the couch!"

Hiou's shoulders jerked as if he was shot. His first reaction was to sit up straight which caused Kanae to lose her balance. Her knee that was braced against the edge of the cushion slipped and she crashed fully into him. Kanae's momentum and their combined weight tipped the couch over and they came crashing down, with him hitting the back of his head against the hardwood floor. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was white skin, purple lace and a softness rushing to meet his face that was what pillows wanted to be when they grew up.

* * *

><p>AN:

This chapter was just begging to get written. I had to put 3BlueLeaves in the back-burner when I decided to focus on this one. Kimi wa Petto is by Ogawa Yayoi. Just realized that they actually made a drama already and Matsumoto Jun played Momo!


End file.
